Promises to Me
by MintiNeko
Summary: Keiko has always known that Yuusuke took his promises to her very seriously. But it wasn't until her death that she truly knew how far his devotion extended. YuuKei


AN: Well, this is my first foray into the Yu Yu Hakusho fandom. I've always loved the show, and it was my first serious introduction to shounen. I've gotten back into it recently, and decided to try my hand at writing fic for it.

Enjoy!

* * *

Yuusuke had never, not once, broken a promise to Keiko.

Not a single one.

Every promise he had ever made, from the most serious (_"And I'll return, and we'll get married."_) to the most whimsical _("Fine, fine, I'll get the damned strawberries, just quit nagging!"_).

Despite his grumblings and snarls, Yuusuke took every promise he made to Keiko seriously. Keiko knew how important it was to him that he fulfilled his promises to her, and was grateful.

But she did not truly realize how far his devotion to her stretched.

Didn't quite realize that he meant what he said on their wedding day, words announced to the entire audience.

"_I, Urameshi Yuusuke, swear to you, Yukimura Keiko that we shall live and love together for the rest of our lives."_

She had blushed and giggled; absently thinking about how much Kuwabara had rubbed off on her husband, and had not noticed the momentary hush from their more demonic guests, the widening eyes of Botan, the sudden subdued faces of the Kuwabara siblings. The resignation in the face of the son of Enma.

Admittedly, she did think it odd that, in spite of the demons that targeted her, the stresses placed upon her by work and motherhood, not to mention having a husband who could be summoned away in a moment to the Makai to smooth over one incident or another; she had for the most part led a happy, long life. Her children were grown, her grandchildren half-grown, well before the night that Botan finally came to fetch her soul.

They had not seen each other in over thirty years, and for Keiko it was jarring, to see that Botan had not aged a day, still in the form of a youthful girl, while she herself had become a very old, well-preserved woman. The two old friends had simply stared at one another in silence, before laughing and embracing each other, tears running down their faces.

"I've missed you so much, Keiko-chan," the ferry girl whispered, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her kimono. "I'm sorry I'm being so silly…but it's not everyday I come down for an old friend."

"So I'm really…" Keiko trailed off, seeing the answer in the other girl's eyes. Rather than go into shock or denial, as might be expected, Keiko sighed and looked over at her sleeping husband in concern. "Does Yuusuke know? Did…you tell him?"

Botan shook her head, lips pursed. "He asked, but Koenma-sama never would tell him. The most he ever said was that you would have a long, healthy life. We thought it would be better…to give him a chance to enjoy his time with you, rather than some giant calendar for him to use to measure what time you had together. It's been particularly hard these last few years; he's been very protective of you. We had to cast several wards just to collect you in peace tonight."

Keiko nodded, her face thoughtful. "I suppose that makes sense…and thank you. I've had a wonderful life, and wouldn't exchange anything for it." She turned and leaned over her now-lifeless body, pressing ghostly lips to Yuusuke's. "Goodbye, Yuusuke," she whispered, "I love you."

She turned back to Botan, squared her shoulders. "Let's go."

Botan laughed. "When I first met you, I thought you were the bravest ordinary human girl I had ever met. It's nice to know that some things never change." She summoned her oar, took Keiko by the hand, and led her to the Reikai.

* * *

From the time she had learned that Yuusuke was half-youkai, and thus would outlive her by centuries, maybe even a millennia or two, Keiko had silently resigned herself to the fact. So long as he remained with her while she was alive, she had sworn to herself that she would be happy. And now that he had fulfilled his side of their (in Keiko's mind) unspoken bargain, it was time for her to fill hers. Even if it meant watching him settle down in the Makai, perhaps witnessing him starting a new family or something equally painful, Keiko had sworn that so long as Yuusuke was Yuusuke, she would wait for him.

So words could not describe how she felt upon being summoned back to Koenma's office, barely three days after her death, only to find her husband waiting for her.

It was, for once, completely silent, Koenma looking on, an inscrutable expression on his faces. For what seemed like hours, all she could do was stare at him. He had gotten rid of his elderly guise, she dimly noted, the one he had worn to placate her own woes and to hide the fact he was aging much more slowly than the average human. Keiko could feel tears welling up—he looked exactly the way he had on their wedding day, if somewhat more weathered and beaten.

Oddly enough, she was the first to speak. After years of following, she suddenly had the irrepressible urge to lead.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly, eyes locked with his, never wavering.

"Exactly what I should be doing here." Yuusuke replied, cocking his head to one side, looking her over. "They changed you back to normal. Good." He nodded his approval; flashing the cheeky grin she so loved. Keiko felt an answering smile spread across her face.

"I was unaware that I looked abnormal before, Yuusuke." She responded quietly, amused at how Yuusuke's face turned red at his blunder.

"Aw, Keiko, that's not what I meant." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "It's just, well, you look—argh! Can't explain it."

"I didn't ask you to," Keiko replied in amusement. Botan had already explained to her that her spirit's appearance reflected her 'essence', without a particular age, even if her features remained mostly the same.

A pause.

"I would've thought, after I died, you would return to the Makai." Keiko began, when it became apparent that Yusuke didn't know what to say.

Yuusuke shrugged, still looking a little embarrassed. "I've already beaten everyone worth fighting, the ones who want to kill me are too pathetic to do it properly, demon lords didn't have the time, and Kurama and Hiei refused point blank to kill me in a proper fight."

"So what did you do?" Keiko wasn't sure if it was spiritual detachment, or simply the depth of her immersion in the world and rules of the Makai through Yuusuke that enabled her to listen so calmly to his complaints.

"We went to a shrine in the mountains of the Makai; Kuwabara recited some spiritual mumbo jumbo and told me to wait for him…sort of." –Keiko smiled, she had a very good idea of what had been said—"Everyone came to say goodbye, you know, Hiei, Kurama, Jin, Touya, and so on. Once they had finished, I just…let go of my youki." He gave her a sidelong look, "Dying is very easy, once you get the hang of it."

"Don't say that." The retort slipped out before she can stop it. Embarrassed, she looked away. She knew it was silly to be so sensitive about Yuusuke's previous deaths when they were both dead _now_, but she hardly felt rational at the moment.

"I'd have thought…" she began again, but paused, reconsidered. "Forget what I think. Yuusuke, what were you thinking?" It wasn't an accusation; she genuinely wanted to know.

For a moment she thought he might not answer, but after a moment's consideration, he spoke:

"I was thinking," said Yuusuke, subdued, "That my wife has died, that my best friend is close to death, that I won't be able to see my kids for much longer before they start wondering why I won't kick it, that I'm the youngest youkai of our friends, and all of them will die before me, so I would be alone anyway. I also think that one human lifespan of kicking ass and taking names is perfect for me—I don't need any more time than that, and that I promised you we would be together for the rest of our lives."

_Our lives. _

Keiko felt the tears beginning to well up. "You didn't have to do this." She whispered, walking towards him, not stopping until there was less than an inch between them, and looking up into his eyes.

"I wanted to. There isn't much point in living for hundreds of years without any prospects of a good fight or anyone to come back to—oof!" Yuusuke was startled by Keiko's arms winding around his waist and her head against his chest, laughing and crying. "Aw, Keiko, don't cry! I don't remember what do when I make you cry!" Keiko only laughed harder; the tears rolling down her cheeks all the faster. Yuusuke only sighed, and wrapped his own arms around her, holding her tightly against him.

"I suppose you'll be wanting the afterlife, rather than reincarnation, Yuusuke?" asked Koenma drily, from somewhere over Yuusuke's shoulder.

"Only until the rest of the gang gets here," replied Yuusuke, grinning again, turning— Keiko still in his arms—to face Koenma. "Then we'll all do some mass reincarnation, just for the hell of it. Kurama and Hiei too. Even Yukina, if she wants."

"You really have no idea how much paperwork backlog you've caused over the last eighty years, do you Yuusuke?" grumbled Koenma. Yuusuke grinned and opened his mouth for a retort—"No—actually, you do. So don't even try to come up with some kind of smart remark. It'd fall flat on its face anyway. You're dismissed." There was a loud crack and Keiko and Yuusuke found that they were no longer in Koenma's office, but the strange, ethereal realm of the afterlife.

"You didn't have to do that, you know!" Yuusuke shouted into the heavens, as though expecting that Koenma would actually hear him. Keiko giggled into his shirt, feeling his chest rise and fall as he sighed.

"Well, that's that, I guess." Yuusuke ruffled Keiko's hair absently, looking around him with interest.

"I guess so." agreed Keiko, releasing Yuusuke from her hug, but keeping a firm hold on one of his hands.

"This is the afterlife?" Yuusuke looked around him, bemused. "Huh, never really looked at it before. Doesn't look like there's much to it, really."

"Not that's I've seen," admitted Keiko. "Not yet, anyway. But there's a lot to explore."

"I'll bet. Well, I'm sure we'll find something." said Yuusuke, smiling down at her. "Trust me."

Keiko smiled back.

"I never said I didn't trust you, Yuusuke." She squeezed his hand tightly.

"I always have."

* * *

Well, first Yu Yu Hakusho fic completed. For the most part, I'm satisfied with how it turned out. Keiko and Yuusuke may not be my absolute favorite characters, but I adore them and their relationship.

Feedback, please?


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